The State of UK Investment
Q3 2025
The state of investment in Q3 2025
Q3 2025 saw a drop-off in both the number and value of deals compared to the previous quarter.
This trend mirrors last year’s figures from Q2 to Q3 in 2024 — especially in the value of deals (£4.45b), which plummeted by 35% compared to Q2 2025’s £6.84b.
However, optimism remains in the form of the total number of completed deals. Whilst the number of deals completed dropped slightly (-3.7%), it’s far more moderate than the comparative cliff of -29% seen between Q2 and Q3 2024.
“Optimism remains in the form of completed deals.”
With 1370 deals completed in Q3 2025, compared to 1422 in Q2, it’s clear that investment is still flowing at a consistent rate. However, the total value of these deals is far smaller.
A year-on-year view is more stable, with Q3 2025 seeing a 9% increase in deals on Q3 2024, and a 5.1% increase in total value, with £4.45b raised during the quarter just gone.
This year and last are not the only periods between Q2 and Q3 where this has happened. Other years that saw comparative drops in value include 2019 and 2022.
2019 was laced with uncertainty due to a December general election and the extension of two EU withdrawal deadlines. 2022 meanwhile saw the historically poorly-received mini budget, which sent shockwaves through the market.
The markets dislike uncertainty, and 2025 has not been without this either — with a global tariff war and inflation shrinking at a smaller pace than expected.
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Where investment is being made in the UK
A regional analysis
London tops the UK for both the number of deals completed (671), and the total amount raised (£2.37b), though the capital has seen drops in both figures quarter-on-quarter. London has also seen its proportion of the total amount raised across the UK drop from 67% to 54%, with Scotland (13%) and the South East (8%) the main beneficiaries.
Scotland’s Q3 saw a 13% drop in deals, but the value of investment ballooned by 379% to £560m, thanks primarily to Scottish company Fidra Energy’s September investment worth £445m. Northern Ireland saw the opposite, with the number of rounds growing by 54%, whilst the total value halved to £21.3m.
The West Midlands is one of only two regions (the other being the North West) seeing growth across both deals (a 37% uplift) and value, which soared by 152% thanks to a £100m raise by Birmingham-based Joblogic. This deal comprised over 40% of the total investment raised in the region during Q3.
The South West and East Midlands, meanwhile, saw drops across both the number and value of deals, with the latter seeing just 27 deals completed worth £16.2m in total.
Industries analysis
The top three industries by number of rounds completed in Q3 2025 were software (663), information technology, telecommunications and data, (417) and supply chain, manufacturing, and commerce models (404).
However, the top two saw serious drops in the value of investment, with £1.45b wiped off of Q2 2025’s figures. Elsewhere, financial services companies saw the biggest overall downturn, with the previous quarter’s £3.16b becoming £1.00b in Q3 of 2025.
Within the software and tech ecosystem, SaaS and artificial intelligence remain the two leaders in both amount raised and number of deals. SaaS companies raised £1.36b in Q3, across 317 rounds, comprising 30.7% of the total amount raised across all industries, a decrease on Q2.
Artificial intelligence saw its share of investment increase from 18.9% to 28.2%. That’s despite its figures remaining broadly similar, with 161 deals completed compared to 162 the previous quarter and £1.25b raised, just short of Q2’s £1.29b.
The largest increases in amount raised went to precision medicine (292%) which secured £216m in investment, cleantech (217%) which raised £952m, and blockchain (144%) which was backed with £342m of equity investment.
Company stages of evolution
From early-stage to established businesses
Our quarterly analysis of companies’ stages of evolution tells a mixed story. On the one hand, deal numbers are down, albeit marginally, across Seed, Venture, and Growth-stage businesses — with only Established companies seeing a greater number of deals, up from 92 to 114.
The value of deals is where disparities are more pronounced. Seed-stage companies secured £1.09b of investment, up 60% on Q2, with Venture-stage businesses securing a modest 13% increase. Growth companies saw a similarly minimal change, dropping 9% in value from Q2’s £1.27b to £1.17b in Q3.
The value of deals is where disparities are more pronounced. Seed-stage companies secured £1.09b of investment, up 60% on Q2, with Venture-stage businesses securing a modest 13% increase. Growth companies saw a similarly minimal change, dropping 9% in value from Q2’s £1.27b to £1.17b in Q3.
However, despite seeing a growth in the number of deals, Established-stage companies collapsed from £3.65b of investment in Q2 to just £0.73b in Q3 2025. We saw this identical trend happen in 2024, with Q2’s figures of £21.9b plummeting to £6.51b in Q3 2024.
The figures in amount raised track to mean deal size trends, with Seed (£1.72m) and Venture-stage companies (£2.96m) seeing the biggest uplift in the average value of deals, whilst Growth’s modest drop (£8.21m) sits in stark comparison to the Established businesses’ average £6.40m raise, down from almost £40m in Q2.
Company valuations
Where Established-stage companies saw greater success was in the average company valuations (£70.7m) — where companies rallied back from Q2’s figures, which were the lowest since Q4 2022.
Growth-stage companies also saw an increase in the mean valuation, from £56.3m to £63.7m, and Venture-stage businesses saw a minimal change in the mean valuation.
More concerning is the downturn in Seed-stage mean valuations, dropping by 25% to £3.65m — the lowest figure for over four years, since Q2 2021.
Announced Deals
Top five
Joblogic
Fnality
Nothing
Satsuma Technology
Fidra Energy
Unannounced Deals
Top five
How does Beauhurst find unannounced fundraisings?
At Beauhurst, we track company filings daily to uncover fundraises that aren’t publicly announced, giving us a comprehensive view of the UK fundraising landscape.
However, filings can be submitted months after a deal closes, so some unannounced fundraises completed within the half may not be visible at the time of reporting.
Artios Pharma
IFX Payments
Tropic
Nexeon
Nexeon develops and manufactures silicon-based anode technology to increase energy density for batteries used in electric vehicles, wearable devices, and medical devices. The company was listed in 2025 cohort of The Sunday Times Tech 100, and raised £45.4m in Q3, bringing its total amount raised to £269m across nine rounds.
Stream
Methodology
About the authors
